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Tranquil garden at Bendigo Hospital opens

On 6 March 2017, Bendigo Health Chair, Bob Cameron, officially opened the wonderful new tranquil garden space in front of the new hospital more than a year ahead of schedule.

The garden was one of the components of Stage 2 of the project which is not due to be delivered until mid-2018.

Bob Cameron said that Exemplar Health decided to open the garden early because they saw the value in providing a lovely landscaped place for patients and staff.

Equipped with a number of benches, the garden space is the future home of feature artworks commissioned by Exemplar Health with the assistance of Bendigo Art Gallery.

The next phase of the garden will be the completion of a walk way between the Anne Caudle building and the new hospital which is integral to the vision of creating one hospital precinct.

Acting CEO, Peter Faulkner, said the new garden opened up the area in front of the hospital and allowed visitors to understand the vision of the precinct between the new and old buildings.

“The next phase will see us open a garden with a disability friendly pathway between our retained buildings, where patients may need to go for allied health services or to use the hydrotherapy pool, and the new hospital. It will also provide easier access for staff,” Mr Faulkner said.

“There is a big focus now on the commencement of works on the old hospital site. The builders’ hoardings are up and in the coming weeks we will see the demolition of Kurmala and Stanistreet buildings.

“This will pave the way for the construction of a multi-storey car park with a conference centre, retail space and most importantly, a helipad for rapid transfer of critically ill patients,” Mr Cameron said.

Stage 2 of the Bendigo Hospital Project includes the construction of a 65 metre, 2 storey, air link bridge over Arnold Street. This will link the helipad and car park, which is currently under construction, with the new hospital building. more »